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Obama tours symbolic sites in Israel and West Bank
US President Barack Obama has concluded his trip to Israel and the West Bank by paying his respects to victims of the Holocaust and visiting Bethlehem.
Mr Obama went to the Yad Vashem museum after seeing the graves of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, and former Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin.
He later toured Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity and and flew to Amman for talks with Jordan's King Abdullah.
On Thursday, Mr Obama urged Israelis and Palestinians to resume peace talks.
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Al-Qaeda in Iraq claims deadly Baghdad bombings
A militant umbrella group that includes al-Qaeda in Iraq says it was behind the wave of bombings in Baghdad on Tuesday which killed more than 50 people.
The Islamic State of Iraq described the violence as "the first drop of rain", after which it would have its "revenge" for those executed by the authorities.
On Monday, the justice minister said "nothing" would halt the executions of militants guilty of capital offences.
The bombings also came on the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion.
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Mali's Ansar Dine militants blacklisted by US
The US government has placed Mali's Islamist group Ansar Dine on its terror blacklist because of continued links to al-Qaeda's North Africa branch.
The decision freezes any of its US assets and bans business with it.
Ansar Dine was one of a number of militant groups that took control of northern Mali in the aftermath of a coup, one year ago on 22 March 2012.
French troops, which intervened in January to oust them, are still fighting insurgents in the mountains.
France currently has 4,000 troops in Mali, backed by thousands of soldiers from Mali, Chad and other African countries.
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Iran's Khamenei rejects US nuclear talks offer
Iran's supreme leader has dismissed a US offer of one-to-one talks on Tehran's nuclear programme.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech posted online that the US was proposing talks while "pointing a gun at Iran".
On Saturday, US Vice-President Joe Biden suggested direct talks, separate to the wider international discussions due to take place later this month.
But the US widened sanctions on Iran on Wednesday, aiming to tighten a squeeze on Tehran's ability to spend oil cash.
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South Africa charges DR Congo rebels for coup plot
Nineteen suspected Congolese rebels have been charged in a South African court with plotting a coup against President Joseph Kabila.
Prosecutors said the men belonged to the Democratic Republic of Congo's Union of Nationalists for Renewal (UNR) rebel group.
South Africa's counter-terrorism forces arrested them earlier this week in the northern Limpopo province.
DR Congo has been hit by rebellions throughout Mr Kabila's rule.
He took power in 2001, following the assassination of his father, Laurent Kabila.
'Specialised training'
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Russian fighter jets breach Japan airspace
Two Russian fighter jets have violated Japanese airspace, prompting Tokyo to scramble its own aircraft, reports say.
Japan lodged a protest after the planes were detected off the northern island of Hokkaido for just over a minute.
The incident happened after Japanese PM Shinzo Abe said he was seeking a solution to a territorial dispute with Russia over a Pacific island chain.
Russia's military denied the incursion, saying the jets were making routine flights near the disputed islands.
Mr Abe was speaking on the anniversary of an 1855 treaty which Japan says supports its claims to the islands.
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Syria capital Damascus sees heavy Jobar fighting
Fierce fighting broke out in the Syrian capital, Damascus, as rebels attacked forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, witnesses and rebels said.
Much of the violence was centred around the Jobar district and a key junction on the Damascus ring road.
But it was not clear whether the rebels managed to retain any territory they claimed in battle, and the Syrian army said it too launched an offensive.
Earlier, reports said bombings in the town of Palmyra killed 19 people.
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Drone strikes US Congress to get legal documents
US officials have agreed to release to Congress documents justifying drone strikes on Americans suspected of working with terrorist groups.
The justice department acted after NBC News published a leaked internal memo outlining some of the legal arguments.
President Barack Obama's choice for CIA director, John Brennan, is likely to face questions on the programme during a Senate confirmation hearing later.
He is believed to have overseen the drone programme, escalated by Mr Obama.
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Obama urges Kenya to avoid violence as election looms
US President Barack Obama has urged the people of Kenya, where his father was born, to avoid violence and intimidation in next month's elections.
He posted the message, which begins with a greeting in Swahili, on YouTube.
He said the polls were a chance for Kenyans to come together to show they were not just members of tribes or ethnic groups, but a proud nation.
Kenya's disputed presidential election in 2007 descended into violence in which more than 1,000 were killed.
Kenyans head to the polls on 4 March to vote for president and other offices in the first national election since that violence.
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Bangladesh: Abdul Kader Mullah gets life sentence for war crimes
A war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh has found a leader of the main Islamist party guilty of crimes against humanity during the war for independence from Pakistan in 1971.
Abdul Kader Mullah of Jamaat-e-Islami, who denied all the charges, was sentenced to life in prison.
Official estimates say more than three million people were killed in the war.
But the trial has sparked protests from supporters who accuse the government of pursuing a political vendetta.
Jamaat has called a national strike for Tuesday, and clashes between police and protesters broke out in Dhaka and several other cities.
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